Curriculum

Our Curriculum

At Academia we provide instruction in the four core content areas; Reading, Math, Science and Social Studies. However, the curriculum at Academia is grounded in the philosophy of two way immersion. Our students are immersed in a full day of instruction in English followed by a full day of instruction in Spanish in all of the areas listed above. This schedule rotates every other day. The two way immersion philosophy supports the Academia mission of developing bilingual and biliterate citizens as we provide instruction in both language and content simultaneously thereby developing language acquisition and higher level thinking skills.

Furthermore, Academia students engage in Project Based Learning where we take some of our Science and Social Studies concepts and develop projects around these ideas that incorporate reading, writing, math and language. Our project based learning units promote choice and real world authenticity. Each project culminates with a celebration of learning where we showcase our work for the entire school community.

Math

Academia students are engaged in mathematics instruction for 45-60 minutes each day. We follow the Common Core standards and deliver instruction using content from the My Math/Mis Matematicas curricular materials. Our students receive math instruction in both English and Spanish and our teachers are trained to bridge the content, draw specific attention to academic vocabulary in both languages and develop mathematical fluency so that the instructional content flows seamlessly from one day to the next.

ELA / SLA

Similar to mathematics, our ELA/SLA curriculum follows the Common Core Standards. Our students develop the necessary reading skills and strategies to become successful readers who are bilingual and biliterate through content delivered from the Maravillas and Wonders reading series. Students engage in both whole group and small group instruction during the reading block which is typically a total of 90 minutes. Thirty additional minutes are spent outside the 90 minutes of core curriculum to enrich and/or remediate students in the area of reading. Academia students receive reading support and strategy instruction in both languages following the every other day rotation.

Science and Social Studies

The Science program at Academia follows the Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers teach 3 Science units a year using hands on discovery learning throughout the unit.

Academia’s Social Studies curriculum follows the Delaware Recommended Curriculum for Social Studies. Units are taught in the areas of History, Geography, Economics and Civics.

Each Science and Social Studies unit is taught in both English and Spanish with the content being bridged, rather than repeated across the two languages.

Expressive Arts

The expressive arts program at Academia includes the following:

Visual Arts

General Music

Physical Education

Capoeira

Students attend one expressive arts class for 45 minutes a day. Each expressive arts teacher follows national standards for his/her particular content area.